If you’re looking for Casio keyboard reviews, this page has everything you need to find the best Casio keyboard for YOUR needs!
In this guide you’ll learn:
But before we dive in, let’s answer the most common questions about Casio keyboards:
1 | Are Casio keyboards good? |
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We get asked that question pretty often! Some people seem to still have an impression of Casio from the 1970s, when they were known as a manufacturer of cheap, poor-quality electronics.
The fact is, Casio has upped their game since then (waaay up. Their digital pianos now win awards and their G-Shock line of watches are known as the toughest in the world).
2 | How much are Casio keyboards? |
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The best Casio keyboards in the beginner-to-intermediate level range from $39 to $600, with their intermediate-to-advanced models ranging between $600 and $1,000.
3 | What is the best Casio keyboard for beginners? |
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There are bunch of great low-cost beginner keyboards made by Casio. A few of our favorites include:
Casio SA-76 (a great intro keyboard for young children) |
Casio CTK-3500 (a great beginner keyboard with 61 touch-sensitive keys) |
Casio LK-190 (a keyboard with “lighted” keys, which help beginners learn faster) |
Casio WK-245 (a keyboard with 76 touch-sensitive keys, great for preparing to play on an acoustic piano) |
Brief background & history of Casio (for the piano nerds!) |
4 | What are the best Casio keyboards? |
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Here are our top 8 Casio keyboards, based on the best-value combination of price and features:
Casio Keyboard and Digital Piano Series
Unlike the large (and complicated) number of Yamaha series, Casio keeps their piano keyboard and digital piano series simple.
There are three main series: the Portable Series (keyboards), Console Series (digital pianos in a traditional cabinet), and Stage Series (digital keyboards meant for stage & professional play).
(Quick primer: when we say piano keyboard, we typically mean a low-cost instrument that’s for beginner or intermediate players. Piano keyboards usually sit on a simple stand.
A digital piano usually costs more, has more features – including a full 88 keys – and sits in a “console”, which is a traditional-style cabinet.)
Portable Keyboards ($39 to $300)
SA Series ($39 - $49) |
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The SA Series is the cheapest line of keyboards produced by Casio. These keyboards are great for small children, because they allow kids to get a feel for piano by playing.
Note that the keyboards in the SA Series are not proper piano-type keyboards, because they have a maximum of 44 keys (whereas an acoustic piano or high-end digital piano has 88 keys), and they don’t have touch-sensitive or weighted keys.
But if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to get your child into a keyboard, it’s hard to go wrong with the SA Series.
Here are our favorite SA Series models:
LK Series ($150 - $250) |
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The LK Series consists of keyboards that use “lighted keys” (that’s where the “LK” comes from!)
You can probably guess what lighted keys are – keys that light up to show you which notes to play. This is an awesome feature for helping new players (especially kids) stay motivated and feel like they’re improving.
Here’s our favorite LK model:
And here’s a video showing how cool the lighted keys feature is:
CTK Series ($130 - $270) |
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The CTK Series strikes a balance between price and value, with all keyboards in the series having 61 keys (the minimum recommended by many piano instructors for learning to play a piano).
The keys on most models are also “touch-sensitive”, meaning the harder you press a key, the louder the sound it makes.
The CTK series is also notable for the large number of “tones” (i.e. sounds) each model has 400 tones.
These are the best-value CTK keyboards:WK Series ($230 - $500) |
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The WK Series is a step up from the CTK series, because each model has 76 keys (versus 61 keys for the CTK series), along with 600+ tones.
The additional keys and other features make the WK a better option than the CTK if you (or your child) plans to progress to playing on a real piano.
Here’s our favorite WK model:Casio WK245 |
Console Digital Pianos ($700 - $1,000)
The digital pianos in Casio’s Console line include the Privia Series and the Celviano Series.
The pianos in these series come in traditional wooden frames (to look like acoustic pianos) and are Casio’s answer to the Yamaha Arius Series of upright digital pianos – but at a much lower price.
The Console pianos come in a wooden case and give players an authentic piano sound – both looking and playing great!
These are our favorite Casio Console models:And here’s a great video by Casio showing you the features of the Console line (in this case, the Privia PX-870):
Stage Digital Pianos ($500 - $800)
Casio`s stage pianos are a range of digital pianos which are excellent for stage performances, giving both a great sound, with portability, and offering an authentic feel when playing.
If you’re interested in a Casio stage piano, take a moment to check out this video demonstration of the PX-350:
Background on Casio (For the Piano Nerds!)
Interesting fact: the very first product created by Casio founder Tadao Kashio was a finger ring that would hold a cigarette, so the wearer could smoke the cigarette down to the nub!
(This was just after WW2, mind you, and Japan was in ruins and dirt-poor. Certainly not the country it is today.)
Casio’s second product was a calculator, which was hugely successful and started the company on the path to becoming a massive electronics company, including the world of electronic keyboard instruments in the 1980`s.
Casio – A Brief History
Casio started out in Japan in April 1946 – as Kashio Seisakujo, but it wasn`t until 1980 that they made and sold their first keyboard – the CT-201. The CT-201 imitated the voices of other musical instruments – albeit, very badly! – and from this, Casio developed a wider range of increasingly innovative keyboards.
In 1983, Casio released the Mini keyboard with ROM pack. The keyboard had eight monophonic voices and 16 pre-recorded rhythms. This was quickly followed by Casio`s CZ-101 - their first synthesizer which uses Phase-Distortion technology.
In 1986 Casio produced their first digital piano – the CPS-201 – with its six different instrument sounds as well as four rhythms as well as their first mini-sampling keyboard – the SK-1. In 1988, Casio released their first keyboard using a sampled sound source – the CT-640. It was also in 1988 that they launched their first digital piano – the CDP-3000.
Since then, Casio have continued to develop their keyboards and digital pianos to be one of the main keyboard manufacturers globally.